WordPress URL Structure by default is not the most Search Engine Friendly, and it is also not very user friendly. In this tutorial we will show you how to make SEO Friendly URL Structure for WordPress that are also user friendly. If you see us use Permalink structure instead of URL structure, you should know that they are synonymous.
Why SEO Friendly URL Structure
When you have a SEO friendly structure, you are increasing your chances of ranking higher in search engines such as Google and others. Which by default are the largest source of new visitors to any website. In our experience with SEO, we have seen that Google gives extra weight to the URL structure therefore it is recommended that you follow this tutorial.
Begin Process
By default WordPress URL Structure looks a bit more robotic because it is not user friendly at all let alone not being SEO friendly.
http://wplinuxeasy.com/?p=45
Above is an example of what a default WordPress URL structure looks like. The goal of making the URL structure more friendly is that your users should know before reading the article what it is about by just looking at the URL. The same goal is to be accomplished for Search Engines as well.
First you need to open the Permalink Option Page which you can find in your WordPress Admin Panel if you click on the Setting Tabs and then go to Permalink. There you should see something which looks familiar to the image above.
You would need to click on the fifth option which says Custom Structure.
Step 2: Pick Your Structure from Documentation
There are many ways a URL can be organized. WordPress gives a few options which you can see at two, three, and four. But those are not the best option in our opinion.
We recommend the URL Structure of
/%category%/%postname%/
or if someone wants a completely static site, then they can use the version below.
/%category%/%postname%.html
By using that documentation your URL structure will be keyword rich as it will contain the keyword of the category and the title. Like the one below:
http://www.wpbeginner.com/wp-tutorials/how-to-install-WordPress-on-your-site/
Now while we recommend the options above there are multiple other ways you can organize your URLs. We have seen many different options in use. To know the possible URL Structure combination, you will need to learn a few documentation tags.
%year% – The year of the post, four digits, for example 2004
%monthnum% – Month of the year, for example 05
%day% – Day of the month, for example 28
%hour% – Hour of the day, for example 15
%minute% – Minute of the hour, for example 43
%second% – Second of the minute, for example 33
%postname% – A sanitized version of the title of the post (post slug field on Edit Post/Page panel). So This Is A Great Post! becomes this-is-a-great-post in the URL.
%post_id% – The unique ID # of the post, for example 423
%category% – A sanitized version of the category name (category slug field on New/Edit Category panel). Nested sub-categories appear as nested directories in the URI.
%author% – A sanitized version of the author name.
More information about the tags can be found in WordPress Codex for Permalinks.
Once you have selected the combination, paste it in the field and click “Save Changes”
Your .htaccess file will automatically be updated, and your URL will be changed. We suggest that you do this towards the start of your website, so you don’t have to go through the process of re-indexing in search engine.
Good Luck with Ranking High in Search Engines.
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